Education Commons^™

The Finnish Line: An International Teacher Exchange Program, Anthony Marano

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This delve into the educational landscape of the United States and Finland uncovers areas of potential growth in the United States with the incorporation of the Finnish Model. By examining first hand experiences inside the Finnish education system, this study proposes a program that could bring international developments in academics, and overall happiness into our domestic education system. First will be presented the position and philosophy from which this thesis will be approached. This will help to prove relevance when viewed through this specific and critical lens. Next, will be a brief historical overview of the systems in question and …

Investing In Critical Consciousness And Civic Engagement In Underfunded Schools, Molly Dailey Andersson

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Throughout this thesis I confront inequity in its pervasive and far-reaching form of American K-12 school finance. By analyzing the inequitable school funding practices of funding formulas and debt repayment structures, I explore how past and present-day school funding practices have evolved through the values and modes of racial capitalism and more recently, neoliberalism. Through Critical Action Research, I challenge the hegemonic hold racial capitalism and neoliberalism have on school funding by critiquing the educational practices and relations it helps produce. Despite the pernicious scale of inequitable school funding practices, Critical Action Research allows for imagining and shaping an education …

Equitable Funding For Trauma Informed Social Policy: A Critical Analysis Of The 2019-2020 Pennsylvania Department Of Education School Safety And Security Grant Program, Heather Bickley

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study is a critical analysis of the funding distribution of the 2019-2020 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) School Safety and Security Grant (SSSG) to identify if there is evidence of inequity in the grant's funding distribution. It used a theoretical framework that includes a transformative paradigm with trauma informed social policy as a theoretical lens, with the conceptual lenses education debt and distributive justice, applied to a concurrent mixed methods design. The research followed a QuantCrit methodology, and the features of a critical policy analysis were used to present the findings.

The quantitative tests found several significant …

Transformative Social Emotional Learning: A Call To Heal The Effects Of Racial Trauma On Identity And Self-Efficacy, Elizabeth Trostle

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Growing up I was never a child that loved school. I fell in love with learning in environments that did not look or feel like classrooms. And in 2005 I learned that I had a passion for learning about pedagogy. I entered the classroom again this time as a teacher, ready to engage students in learning. What I was offered was curriculum and learning standards that left little room for experiences. Despite my efforts, and after a decade of experience, I was still baffled by the resistance to learning.

I wanted to understand this because I saw that education—when you …

Innovating Education Through Design Thinking: A Case Study Of Problem-Solving Educators, Matthew Pimental

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study aimed to identify methodologies and practices that enable innovation to thrive in the public education system. Design thinking (DT) was selected for examination given its demonstrated ability to: (a) make people and teams more innovative , (b) change institutional cultures to be more creative and solution-oriented, and (c) create conditions necessary for innovation to thrive within established organizational structures. This intrinsic case study explored the experiences of a group of educators who used design thinking to innovate solutions to the intractable problems they faced. Participants in this study were teachers and administrators who received training in DT, and …

Mass School Closures In The School District Of Philadelphia: Personal Narratives And Impacts, Cristina Utti

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This dissertation examines the lived experience in a receiving building during and after the mass school closures in the School District of Philadelphia from 2012-2014. Qualitative data was gathered both by means of semi-structures ethnographic interviews of participants and an autoethnographical account of the self as a teacher in the district at a receiving building during and in the aftermath of the closures. The data found uncertainty to be a major theme among all participants as to what was happening in the School District of Philadelphia as a whole and within the individual school buildings during this time. The notion …

Making College Campuses Safer For Students Of Color, Lasheree Snyder

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis will address the racial attitudes on college campuses that have a negative effect on students of color. More specifically, I will be shining light not only on the need for action within higher education, but also the long-term and short-term mental and physical damages that rob students of their right to an equal educational experience. Through the usage of Critical Action Research as my conceptual framework and methodology, it has allowed me to share the common power struggle and challenges that students of color face on college campuses today when dealing with racism and prejudice. I propose a …

Deschooling Deficit Perspectives: An Exploration Of Culture And Place For Educators, Madison Dorschutz

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The purpose of this critical action research is to increase awareness of deficit perspectives that damages the academic outcomes of diverse students while offering approaches to address them. Theories of decolonialism, culturally responsive pedagogy, and place-based education will be discussed as they are able to pull back the raciallyinformed curtain of bias development. These theories come together in a 4-day series of workshops that seeks to inform educators of their damaging thinking in an effort to negate it before they enter their classrooms. Through reflection, cultural-perspective taking, and relationship building, educators can gain skills to acknowledge systems of oppression that …

Re-Forging Democracy In Schools Through The History Of American Social Movements, Jonathan Privado

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Democratic virtue and spirit are severely lacking in the traditional school setting. With so many threats to the planet, the nation, and democracy as a whole, direct action, and active civic engagement are more important than ever. The traditional social studies and history curriculums of schools, both sanitized and passive, often claim to prepare students for citizenry, but are actually ill preparing students for the challenge and the necessity of genuine civic engagement. In particular, one of the most egregious offenders within the domain of the social studies is the traditional American history curriculum. In most cases, as this study …

Exploring The Responsibilities Of Student Affairs Educators To Student Activists, Catia Rembert

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis addresses the need for student affairs professionals to effectively support student activists. More specifically, entry and mid-level professionals need to develop and cultivate skills that will allow sustainable and meaningful support for student activists of color. Using a critical action research framework I analyzed the ways in which hierarchy affects the ability of student affairs professionals to provide effective advocacy and support. I propose a student led summer professional development series that shifts power dynamics from the student affairs professional to the student activist. An effective leader of this intervention would be someone who is immersed in activism …

Queering The University: Implementing A Systematic & Organizational Approach To Equity, Brian Moore

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Too often higher education educators take a lackadaisical approach to solutions surrounding negative queer and trans student experiences; however, educators hold an obligation to foster student success, retention, catalyze identity development, and maximize the human potential of queer and trans students. This master’s thesis develops a systematic and organizational approach to achieving an equitable campus for queer and trans student experience through a critical action research proposal. Utilizing my perspective as queer and trans educator and/or student, I will primarily use the philosophical lens of Friere, hooks, Foucault, and queer theory to support my philosophy of education. Theoretical frameworks from …

On The Lived Experience Of Truth In An Era Of Educational Reform: Co-Responding To Anti-Intellectualism, Matthew J. Kruger-Ross

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

The severity of the challenges made to traditionally and historically accepted understandings of truth, what is true, what is false and “fake,” and even what is real, continues unabated in American public discourse. Nevertheless, the primary argument in this paper does not aim to identify the causes of the breakdown of representation (i.e. in the Trump administration, within the education reform movement) and the correspondence-based conceptions of truth. Instead, the focus is on discussing the hermeneutic phenomenology of Martin Heidegger and offering a conceptualization of truth as lived and experienced. Challenges to truth are to be understood not as an …

Reclaiming Our Assumptions At The Intersection Of Technology, Learning And Equity, Matthew J. Kruger-Ross

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Can Curriculum Respond To The “Crisis Of Technology”? Curriculum Oriented Towards World, Cameron Duncan, Matthew J. Kruger-Ross

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Raising The Question Of Being In Education By Way Of Heidegger's Phenomenological Ontology, Matthew J. Kruger-Ross

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

The aim of this essay is to explore how to raise the question of Being in education by way of Heidegger’s phenomenological ontology. Phenomenological ontology is a way of approaching and conducting philosophy exemplified in Heidegger’s Being and Time. To prepare the way for raising the question of Being in education, a nuanced understanding of Heidegger’s phenomenological analyses on truth and language is summarized. Thereafter, the manner in which Being is referenced is analyzed before considering the way of Heidegger’s phenomenological ontology. In conclusion, existing attempts and continuing efforts to explore the question of Being in education through phenomenological ontology …

Temporalizing Pedagogy And Technology: Pressing Into The Future, Matthew J. Kruger-Ross

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Plea For Pedagogy, Matthew J. Kruger-Ross

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Toward A Set Of Theoretical Best Practices For Web 2.0 And Web-Based Technologies, Matthew Kruger-Ross, Lori B. Holcomb

Educational Foundations & Policy Studies Faculty Publications

Many educators are excited by and support the innovative and pedagogically invigorating technologies offered by the interactive and collaborative Web 2.0 movement. To date, much of the research on the integration of Web 2.0 tools has focused on technical and procedural generalizations about how one might incorporate these technologies into the classroom. While some research has addressed content specific uses of these tools, only a limited amount has explored best practices for using these technologies to encourage learning. While these studies are groundbreaking and serve an important purpose, this article aims to shift the ongoing conversation toward a first draft …